In a trip that will certainly re-ignite his fading VP prospects, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell will travel to Iowa on Thursday to stump on behalf of Mitt Romney.

McDonnell will visit the Hawkeye state with fellow governor and VP prospect Bobby Jindal from Louisiana.

According to McDonnell’s office, the governor will hold a late morning event in Davenport and then visit a Victory Center in Coralville in the early afternoon. He will be with Jindal at the event in Coralville.

The governor will leave Richmond early Thursday morning by plane and return to Virginia that evening.

McDonnell will also serve as a surrogate for Romney Wednesday in a press event with local business leaders in Richmond, where they will continue the attack against President Barack Obama‘s “you didn’t build that” line from his speech in Roanoke.

It was just a quick phrase, mentioned in President Barack Obama‘s stump speech in Roanoke early this month.

In case you missed it, here is what he said:

“If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet. The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.” - President Barack Obama July 13, 2012 Roanoke, VA

The GOP has seized on the first part of that section of the speech, specifically “you didn’t build that”. They have held conference calls, cut web ads and pushed out TV commericals accusing the president of being out of touch with small business owners.

The Obama team has argued that the president’s words were taken out of context and that the American people understand that businesses are built and are successful with help from the government. But despite the spin from Chicago, there must be concern that the attacks are having an impact. Tuesday the campaign released an ad responding to the attacks, featuring the president himself speaking to voters directly.

In the ad Obama says “Those ads taking my words about small business out of context; they’re flat out wrong.”

Here is a look at the full ad which is expected to run in a number of swing states:

But don’t expect republicans to just accept the president’s explanation. They will continue to turn up the heat with an event Wednesday featuring Virginia’s highest profile Romney surrogate, Gov. Bob McDonnell.

McDonnell will join with two Richmond small business owners to respond to what they call the president’s “insulting” claim. McDonnell is still considered a contender as Romney’s running mate, but his stock has fallen quite a bit by many who track the Veepstakes progress.

It is debatable how much resonance the Obama comment has had on the race here in Virginia, but there is no question the race is tightening up. The Real Clear Politics average of polls in Virginia has the race within two points, but with a slight edge to Obama.

With 106 days to go until the election the silliness has begun. The Virginia Board of Elections is warning that a mass e-mail is going on telling voters that if they haven’t voted since the 2008 presidential election that they must register again or be turned away this November.

The BOE said there is no truth to the e-mail.

It is pretty simple, if you were registered to vote before, and you haven’t moved you are still registered. There is nothing more to do before casting your ballot on election day.

In Virginia your voter registration never expires, even if you choose to never vote. So even if the presidential election was the last time you made it to your polling place, you are still set to go for this November.

The only exception is if you have moved outside of your voting precinct since the last time you cast your ballot. In that case you do need to update your address with the BOE because you may have changed congressional districts or polling places.

If you are worried that you may not be registered correctly, it is a simple one stop check. The Board of Elections has set up a handy web site where you can just fill out your information and it tells you your registration status, where you go to vote and who will be on the ballot when you get there.

The Board of Elections registration web site can be found clicking here.

Crossroads GPS Is a 501(C) 4 and can raise and spend as much as it wants, without disclosing where their cash is coming from. Their spending in the Virginia senate race is on pace to be more than what Senate candidate George Allen will spend on television advertising himself.

But every dime spent by Crossroads, will help Allen in a big way, including a new ad rapping his opponent Tim Kaine on his support of the federal stimulus plan.

Here is a look at the ad:

Nate Hodson the group’s state and regional media relations director, ranks Virginia as one the election’s most important states.

“We are going to keep the pressure on Tim Kaine to support the policies that Virginians want and should expect in their next United States Senator,” Hodson said.

Crossroads will spend $5.7 million in Virginia. The spending is part of $23.5 million on senate races across the country, and up to $70 million total in this election. Despite all that cash, Crossroads will not reveal who their donors are. Instead, Hodson said the conversation should be about Tim Kaine’s record.

“All we can do is communicate that to voters,” Hodson said of the groups attacks against Kaine. “That is what we are focused on doing.”

So we are left to fill in the blanks. Their management team is filled with former Bush administration officials and their co- founder is Karl Rove. According to a report in Roll Call, Rove remains the main fundraiser for the group, but his official capacity in the organization is in “informal”.

“He has no direct role in the day to day activity as far as what ads we are running where or when we are running those ads,” Hodson said of Rove. He also said that Rove doesn’t receive a salary.

Crossroads represents perhaps the best example of a big dollar group investing heavily in Virginia, with voters having no idea where all the money is coming from.

It is a legal practice, but one candidate Kaine asked candidate Allen to join together and ask the groups to say out of Virginia or reveal who is providing them their cash.

Allen turned down the offer, and now the money continues to flow on behalf of both campaigns.

Our partners at PolitiFact took a look at this ad as well and ruled that the claims the ad makes about stimulus funding going to studying ants in Africa was true, but even Crossroads admits that Kaine himself never specifically lobbied for that project.

The First Lady, as many of her predecessors, actually has higher approval ratings than her husband and is known for drawing pretty big crowds herself. She has become a powerful spokesperson for woman’s rights, which is a key cog and in the Obama campaign re-election strategy. Her remarks on Friday are expected to center around the Obama administration’s successful passage the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act from 2009, a law the White House attempted to build upon this year unsuccessfully. In fact, Mrs. Obama’s visit to Charlottesville coincides with OFA’s “Women Vote 2012 Summit Tour” which is designed to highlight those issues.

Both events are free and open to the public, but tickets are required because of limited space.

The full details on how to acquire those tickets is below:

These events are free and open to the public. Tickets are required due to limited space, and will be available to the public starting on a first come, first serve basis at the following Organizing for America pick-up locations below.

CROWD ACCESS INFORMATION:

Tickets are available starting on a first come, first serve basis at the following locations and times:

As the crowd of roughly 900 people gathered at the Walkerton Tavern in Henrico, the air was thick and it was sunny and hot. That didn’t last too long. Shortly after the crowd took their spots to see Barack Obama, the rain began to fall and it stayed like that on and off until long after he was finished.

It wasn’t the first time a candidate has ever given a passionate speech in the rain, it’s not even the first time Obama has, but the picture of a soaking wet president selling his message of fighting for the middle class provided his campaign excellent optics. While they couldn’t plan something like this, they took advantage of the situation and it served as a dramatic backdrop for the president to make the case that his tax plan is the best plan for America.

Here is my report for NBC12:

GLEN ALLEN, VA (WWBT- For the seventh time since being elected president of the United States, President Barack Obama made a stop here in Central Virginia. The president spoke to an outdoor crowd, in the middle of a rain storm at the Walkerton Tavern in Glen Allen.

Through the pouring rain, which drenched everyone, including the leader of the free world, Barack Obama made a direct pitch to the middle class, and he used an issue that is normally strong with republicans, taxes.

It came early, and stayed from almost the entire event, a soaking rain that was impossible to escape, even for the most powerful man on the planet.

“Everybody is wet already,” the president said at one point. “So it doesn’t matter.”

Obama, dressed in a shirt so wet that his undershirt was visible, didn’t seem to mind. He launched into a passionate defense of his plan to raise taxes on the wealthy, and cut them for the middle class.

“We need someone who believes in a “middle out” economics, a “bottom up” economics,” he said. “Someone who will fight for you and working class people across Virginia.”

It was a message sent to Henrico voters, in one of the most important swing counties in America. Tracey Snyderman is one of the voters, and agrees.

“I feel that the people in the top two percent won’t feel the difference,” Snyderman said. “For people lower down on the scale, it makes a big difference.”

But the president didn’t convince everyone. Matt Walton is a teacher and a Romney supporter. He came to hear the president speak, but is not convinced that higher taxes of any kind will help.

“You have the top two percent of the country paying roughly 78 percent of the American taxes,” he said. “That is just a huge burden right there.”

The Romney campaign responded to the Obama visit with the following statement:

President Obama admitted today that our country isn’t on the right track, yet he is offering more of the same as he seeks a second term. Americans are tired of the same old broken promises and dishonest attacks – they want a leader who keeps his word and is more focused on fixing the economy than telling stories. As president, Mitt Romney will turn around the upside-down Obama economy and finally get America back on the right track.” – Curt Cashour, Virginia Communications Director, Romney for President

It will be an outdoor setting this afternoon for President Barack Obama‘s visit to Glen Allen. Obama is in the midst of a two day five stop swing through the Commonwealth in support of his re-election campaign.

The president spent time in Virginia Beach, Roanoke and Hampton yesterday. The theme of this swing is to speak directly to middle class voters in Virginia. Obama is expected to tout his tax plan which calls for a sunset of the Bush Tax Cuts for people making more than $250,000 a year, and extending th cuts for everyone else under that mark.

In front of a banner that reads “Forward” (which you and kind of make out in that picture) the president will remind the supportive crowd of the work he has done already on tax relief. Work he estimates at saving middle class Americans billions of dollars.

Republicans in Richmond yesterday, argued that the Obama tax plan amounts to class warfare. Mayor Rudy Giulianisaid yesterday that Obama is working to pit the rich against the poor and at the same time punishing job creators.

Lt. Governor Bill Bolling is on board the Mitt Romney campaign bus this morning to offer a counter argument to the Obama visit. The bus has been making laps around the area in front of Walkerton Tavern all morning.

We will provide live coverage of the preisdent’s visit today on air and on line. We will cut in on TV when the president lands at Richmond International Airport and when he arrives here in Glen Allen. The entire event can be seen without interruption on our web site, NBC12.com.

If you have no interest in the presidential visit, it would be a smart idea to avoid this section of Henrico. Road closures start at 10am. The full list can be found below:

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Road Closures

On Saturday, July 14, 2012 President Obama will arrive at Richmond International Airport for an extended Presidential Campaign visit in Henrico County. As a result of his visit, in addition to temporary road closures associated with the Presidential Motorcade, the following road closures will occur:

*Mountain Road between Purcell Road and Woodman Road

HOURS: 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

*Old Washington Highway between Mountain Road and Peace Lane

HOURS: 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Detour signs will be utilized to assist motorists with identifying alternate routes. Residents who live inside the road closure areas will be allowed access to and from their homes by the Police Officers who will be posted at the road closure points.

Motorists attending the AMATEUR SOFTBALL ASSOCIATION TOURNAMENT at the Glen Allen Sports Complex should use Brook Road to Mountain Road to access the sports complex.

More than 100 Henrico County Police Officers will be on duty for the specific purpose of assisting with traffic and security for this event. They will be posted at road closure points to provide direction and assistance to motorists.

The Henrico Police Division will staff a Traffic & Event Help Telephone Line from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday to provide residents with traffic information associated with the event. The number to call for assistance, if needed, is 804-501-4838.

Additional information, including detour routes, will be posted on the Henrico County Police Web Page (www.henricopolice.org).